Chapter 518: Chapter 518: The Battle of the Somme
In November at the River Somme, the morning air carried a slight chill. The deciduous trees on both banks showed little green, with only a few brown leaves clinging to the bare branches, adding to the sense of desolation.
British Expeditionary Force Commander Haig hid in the trench, cautiously holding binoculars to observe the distant German positions.
Everything was so quiet; there was no German activity, only a few small birds foraging freely in front of the positions.
Putting down the binoculars, Haig nodded in satisfaction to his staff, "The Germans have no idea they’re under artillery fire. They’re finished!"
...
South of the River Somme, French Army Commander Nivelle was also observing the Germans. He proudly said to his subordinates, "When the leaves on the trees fall (in a few days), we will have won and gone home!"
It was Nivelle’s habit; he always motivated his troops with unrealistic optimism before a battle, believing it would boost morale and combat effectiveness, allowing them to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.
However, Nivelle never considered the backlash if these words didn’t come true, and the soldiers might lose their basic trust in their commander who spoke nonsense.
(The image above shows the Battle of the Somme map. The River Somme runs from west to east, dividing the attack positions into north and south parts. The northern side was the British Army’s 4th Army, consisting of 23 divisions, while the southern side was the French Army’s 6th Army, with only 5 divisions present on the first day. The shaded area depicts the positions the Allies captured at the cost of about 600,000 casualties.)
Then, Vice Admiral Nivelle took out his pocket watch and stared quietly at the hands.
Behind him, observation balloons had slowly risen into the air, numbering over a dozen. They were scattered across the rear positions like celebration balloons for some festival, only theirs were gray like the sky.
As the hands approached seven o’clock, Nivelle commanded arrogantly, "Open fire, let them taste our power!"
Three red flares slowly rose, curving upwards in the sky, their speed gradually slowing.
Just as they were about to descend, the artillery roared suddenly.
The bombardment was unprecedentedly fierce. The British and French armies had gathered 1,500 artillery pieces of various calibers, bombarding the German positions almost continuously.
The soldiers present could only see the trajectories of the shells in the minutes before the battle began. Those searing shells flying through the air met with the cold air, leaving clear contrails.
They aimed straight at the German positions, then exploded like starlight in the night.
Soon, even these contrails became invisible, covered by the smoke and dust stirred up by the shells, turning the entire sky dark as if night had fallen.
The German positions were engulfed in a sea of fire, the ground shaking violently and the explosions deafening. Occasionally, German bunkers and obstacles were blasted into the sky.
The German artillery seemed silenced, completely unable to retaliate, seemingly bearing it all powerlessly and helplessly.
Nivelle watched this scene, his face flushed with excitement, and shouted with clenched fists, "Bomb, bomb to your heart’s content! Blast everything to the sky! Nothing can stop us from achieving victory!"
In his view, anything could be destroyed with shells, if one wasn’t enough, use two.
...
At the British attack positions, Haig also exhaled a sigh of relief, believing that the lack of German artillery response meant the situation was set.
Because this bombardment would last a week, a full seven days.
There’s nothing in the world that can withstand seven days of bombardment, if there is, it’s the land and the bodies!
By then, all that would be left for the British soldiers was to march into the ruins and easily trample the Germans to claim victory.
After the bombardment had continued for over half an hour, Haig sent a telegram to Kitchener: "Everything is satisfactory. The Germans are unprepared. Victory is at hand. I even think seven days of bombardment preparation may not be necessary."
...
Sitting in Dunkirk, Kitchener received the telegram and nodded in satisfaction while sipping his coffee.
He advanced the operation plan by a dozen days.
This was due to the need to resolve the current political dilemma and was the most powerful rebuttal to "forcing Shire to attack Namur."
Kitchener was telling everyone this way: Look, there is no plan to attack Namur. We have been preparing to attack the River Somme all along. Moreover, we don’t need Shire to achieve victory, and an even more glorious one!
However, Kitchener still felt somewhat uneasy.
He replied to Haig: "Once a breakthrough is made, immediately dispatch cavalry to exploit it, without any hesitation!"
To achieve "greater glory," seizing a few lines of defense was far from enough. It was necessary to encircle and capture tens of thousands of German soldiers like Shire.
Haig replied: "Understood, sir! I am ready!"
They were indeed prepared. There were over 40,000 cavalry men assembled at the front, waiting to swiftly break through and charge into the enemy’s depths once the offensive began.
However, neither Kitchener nor Haig, nor Nivelle, truly understood the real meaning of "encirclement" or Shire’s "Blitzkrieg."
Shire’s "one day" started the moment the artillery fired, with armored units immediately charging to break through the enemy’s positions, preventing reinforcements from arriving in time.
But Kitchener and Haig thought the timing should start from when the infantry launched the attack, not counting the seven days of artillery preparation.
In those seven days, reinforcements from Berlin could reach the River Somme!
...
Far away at the Antwerp Command, Shire also received the intelligence that the Battle of the Somme had begun.
Shire wasn’t much concerned; he knew what would happen and was in no hurry.
Tijani had been stationed in the communication room most of these days, hoping to receive front-line news as soon as possible.
Persistence paid off, and he finally got it this day.
He ran to Shire, holding the telegram excitedly: "They started fighting at the River Somme. These bastards, they didn’t let us know at all, as if we are so insignificant to them!"
Then, seeing no surprise on Shire’s face, he asked puzzled, "Did you know about this?"
"Didn’t you know?" Shire countered, "They built several roads and railways to the River Somme."
Tijani was taken aback, not having thought of assessing the front-line situation from this aspect.
Yet, Shire knew the outcome first and then traced the process.
"Now," Shire’s gaze turned to Namur on the map, "we can discuss how to attack Namur."
Tijani was instantly petrified.
Shire had been waiting for this.
Sly guy, Tijani laughed.
Kitchener had intended to use Shire to attack Namur, drawing the German forces and attention.
Unexpectedly, Shire utilized Kitchener’s attack on the River Somme to draw the German forces and attention instead.
Could this be considered a boomerang?